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Description: This tool provides local policy-makers and major stakeholders with a methodology to plan for climate change. These plans must address both mitigation (e.g., reducing the concentration of greenhouse...

This tool provides local policy-makers and major stakeholders with a methodology to plan for climate change. These plans must address both mitigation (e.g., reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) and adaptation (responding to the impacts of climate change). If they are to be effective, local plans for climate change (both adaptation and mitigation) require the involvement of a variety of stakeholders and a specific focus on the most vulnerable groups.

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2 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
of impacts on urban areas around the world.
Rising temperatures will have a detrimental
effect on air quality and public health;
changing rainfall patterns will affect water
availability and the spread of diseases related
to poor sanitation; and extreme weather
events will cause widespread damage to
infrastructure, as well as loss of life and
livelihoods. In addition, urban areas will
also see indirect consequences from climate
change: movements of people as a result
of climate stress; shifts in the distribution
of disease vectors; and new regulations for
reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Because
of this, the lives and livelihoods of hundreds
of millions will be affected by what is or is
not done in urban centres with regard to
climate change over the next decade. Urgent
action is required to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions if the worst consequences of
climate change are to be avoided. Similarly,
early interventions are required to ensure
that urban societies and economies are able
to cope with inevitable changes in climate
that will occur even if emissions are sharply
curbed now. The effects of climate change
are already being felt in many places, and
immediate action is required to manage these
effectively. In addition, the long-term nature
of infrastructure investment means that
decisions taken now have implications that
will last for several decades – and therefore
they must allow for a changing climate.
Urban centres are key players both in
the generation of greenhouse gases
and in strategies to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, especially in reducing
dependence on carbon-based fuels. Towns
and cities also concentrate large proportions
of those most at risk from the effects of
climate change – and the enterprises that
generate most of the world’s production of
goods and services. This is why cities and
municipal governments must act to reduce
not only greenhouse gas emissions, but
also the vulnerability of urban residents
to the many direct and indirect impacts of
climate change.
Vulnerability refers to the extent to which
a system – be it a household, community,
city, agricultural system, or ecosystem – is
(un)able to cope with the consequences of
climate change (see Glossary). Adaptation
is deﬁned by the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) as adjustment
in natural or human systems in response to
actual or expected climatic stimuli or their
effects, which either moderates detrimental
effects or exploits beneﬁcial opportunities
(see Glossary). In other words, adaptation
refers to preparations for the unavoidable
consequences of climate change that are
going to be felt in many urban centres.
As is well known, more than half of the
world’s population now live in urban areas
that concentrate national economic power in
all its dimensions, including manufacturing,
services including banking and ﬁnance,
trade and consumer demand. Together with
rapid demographic and spatial expansion,
this means that urban areas have a crucial
role to play in the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions. As low- and middle-income
countries have become more urbanised, there
has been an increasing concentration of low-
income urban residents occupying locations
that are prone to ﬂooding, landslides and
other hazards. Conversely, the planning and
building decisions that are taken now will have
lasting effects in terms of their consequences
for generating climate change; well-managed
transportation systems and more efﬁcient
buildings will be essential to future reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions. At the same
time, the planning and urban development
decisions made today will either increase or
reduce a city’s vulnerability to the impacts of
climate change.
With cities already facing many challenges,
can local governments in developing
CHAPTER 1 / THE LOCAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 3
countries afford to shift their political
focus and inadequate ﬁnancial resources
to climate change? The answer is they
must and they can. If they do not act now,
the costs for future generations will be
extremely difﬁcult to shoulder; the Stern
report on the economics of climate change
concluded that unabated climate change
could cost the world at least ﬁve per cent of
its total production every year
1
. However, the
report went on to stress, addressing climate
change should not be associated only with
high costs, but also with the opportunities
which the required adjustments can bring,
and the beneﬁts of strong, early action
would considerably outweigh the costs.
Indeed, many of the steps required to curb
greenhouse gas emissions and reduce
vulnerability generate signiﬁcant co-
beneﬁts. Improved public transportation
networks reduce carbon dioxide emissions
from private motor vehicles, but can also
help low-income residents move more
readily around any given urban area. For
example, TransMilenio, the bus rapid transit
system deployed in Bogotá, Colombia, is
meeting the needs of the 80 per cent of
the city’s population who are dependent on
public transportation, including the 53 per
cent who are deﬁned as living in poverty
2
.
Lower reliance on private motor vehicles
can also generate broader health beneﬁts
through reduced air pollution and increased
physical activity
3
. An increasing number of
innovative practices are emerging in cities
to reduce energy consumption in buildings
and construction: as most cities rely on fossil
fuels for their energy generation, saving
energy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions
1 Stern N (2007). The Economics of Climate Change: the Stern
Review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
2 Héron D (2006) The TransMilenio Public Transportation
System (Bogotá, Colombia). UNITAR/VEOLIA Environnement
/ UN-Habitat. Available online: http://www.sustainable-
development.veolia.com/ library/en/standalone/
others/1767,Transmilenio-Bogota-ANG.pdf [accessed
31/3/09].
3 Bloomberg M, Aggarwala R (2008). ‘Think Locally, Act
Globally: how curbing global warming emissions can
improve local public health’ American Journal of Preventative
Medicine 35(5): 414-423.
along with those energy costs that stand so
prominently in municipal budgets.
With regard to climate change adaptation,
many of the more important interventions
require general improvements to the urban
fabric, with associated beneﬁts under the
form of slum upgrading and the provision
of water, sanitation, waste management,
drainage, and transportation. To date, very
few climate change adaptation projects
have explicitly included these broader social
and environmental goals; conversely, very
few urban sanitation projects have sought
to address climate change.
Still, it is becoming self-evident, for
instance, that when urban planning enables
low-income communities to settle on land
that is not exposed to ﬂooding or landslide
hazards, such planning does more than just
enhance security of tenure, it also reduces
vulnerability to climate risks. Similarly,
where improvements to water supply and
sanitation take into account increasingly
uncertain rainfall patterns, water availability
Te benefts of strong, early
action would considerably
outweigh the costs ... many
of the steps required to curb
greenhouse gas emissions and
reduce vulnerability generate
signifcant co-benefts.
4 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
can be extended to low-income households,
with wide-ranging health and social
beneﬁts.
Still, it is becoming self-evident, for instance,
that when urban planning enables low-
income communities to settle on land that
is not exposed to ﬂooding or landslide
hazards, such planning does more than just
enhance security of tenure, it also reduces
vulnerability to climate risks. Similarly, where
improvements to water supply and sanitation
take into account increasingly uncertain
rainfall patterns, water availability can be
extended to low-income households, with
wide-ranging health and social beneﬁts.
1.2 EXPLAINING THE TOOLKIT
1.2.1 INTEGRATING CLIMATE
CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Planning for climate change involves
assessing the risks and impacts from climate
change, creating a strategic framework with
which to address these, and developing
speciﬁc interventions to build resilience and
reduce vulnerability. While it is important to
understand the climate change impacts as
described in global, regional, national and in
some cases localised models and scenarios,
it is at least as important to understand local
vulnerabilities based on local knowledge.
Successful adaptation to climate change
requires local knowledge, local competence,
and local capacity within local governments.
This highlights the need to involve individuals,
households, and community and other
non-governmental organisations with the
knowledge and capacity to act.
In an urban context, addressing climate
change at the local level is intricately
associated with planning for sustainable
urban development – i.e., an approach
that ensures that today’s needs are met
without jeopardising those of future
generations. In other words, this type of
urban development ensures sustainable
resource consumption and environmental
conservation whilst expanding basic services
to all members of a given population.
Similarly, planning for climate change
should involve both managing greenhouse
gas emissions and therefore the future risks
at the scale of the planet, and developing
adaptation strategies that ensure that more
vulnerable members of society, vulnerable
sectors and vulnerable eco-systems are
not under threat from climate events. No
community development can be sustainable
if it ignores climate change. The poor are
more vulnerable to climate change as they
tend to live in hazard-prone areas and are
more dependent on the environment for
their livelihoods. Consequently, poverty
reduction is a major component of enhanced
climate resilience, not just of sustainable
development. However, sustainability raises
further concerns like sanitation, access
to clean water, health and diminishing
ecological resilience. It is, therefore, vital to
explore the linkages between climate change
and broader sustainability agendas, as well
as to identify the overarching pathways that
can build resilient communities through
adaptation to climate change.
This tool provides local policy-makers and
major stakeholders with a methodology to
plan for climate change. These plans must
address both mitigation (e.g., reducing the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere) and adaptation (responding
to the impacts of climate change) [see
Glossary]. If they are to be effective, local
plans for climate change (both adaptation
and mitigation) require the involvement
of a variety of stakeholders and a speciﬁc
focus on the most vulnerable groups. Local
governments have a vital role to play in
this process for two particular reasons: (1)
CHAPTER 1 / THE LOCAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 5
planning is part of their unique prerogative
and mandate, and (2) theirs is a natural,
central position when it comes to facilitating
action by other local stakeholders and
providing for synergies at the regional and
national levels.
The planning methodology recommended
in this tool is process-based, i.e., it is vision-
as opposed to function-oriented. The
objective is to help local stakeholders plan
for climate change. More speciﬁcally, this
report shows how to set out adaptation
and mitigation strategies that can meet the
needs of the various individuals, households
and communities in speciﬁc conditions.
The process-based toolkit presented in
Section 2 focuses on four major stages of
a climate change response: gathering
and analysing information; strategic
planning; developing adaptation and
mitigation projects; and monitoring
and evaluation (Figure 2). As shown in
the ﬂowchart, some functions must be
undertaken sequentially, while others can
be carried out concurrently. In addition –
and as explained in Section 2 – components
of this process may already have been
undertaken for other purposes. Rather than
a rigid structure, the purpose is to provide
a broad framework that can be adapted
into an appropriate set of responses for a
variety of towns and cities. Each of the four
main stages requires several speciﬁc actions
(Table 1), which are explained in Section 2.
1.2.2 MAINSTREAMING OR
STAND-ALONE PLANS?
This toolkit assists local governments and
local stakeholders in the development of
local plans for climate change. What should
such plans look like? Depending on local
Putting plans into practice: implementing action plans (Section 2.7)
Participatory strategic planning for climate change (Section 2.6)
Identifying local
contributions to
climate change
(Section 2.3)
Local climate
change impacts
and exposure
(Section 2.4)
Assessing
vulnerable people,
places and sectors
(Section 2.5)
Figure 2: Developing Local Climate Change Plans − Flowchart Diagram
P
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r
t
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c
i
p
a
t
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r
y

2
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8
)
Gathering and analysing information
Stakeholder consultations (Section 2.2)
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 27
This section on stakeholder consultation provides guidance on the following steps:
Identifying and organising a core team for the planning process;
Bringing together stakeholder groups;
Deﬁning the message for the planning process;
Conducting city-wide consultations;
Setting up and coordinating working groups.
Further information on this stage of the process can be found in the UN-Habitat
Sustainable Cities Programme Source Book series, and particularly Volume 2
(Organising, Conducting and Reporting a City Consultation) http://www.unhabitat.
org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=1595 and Volume 3 (Establishing
and Supporting a Working Group Process) http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/
listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=1635. It is recommended that these materials be
consulted in association with this report. The ICLEI/Centre for Science in the Earth
System publication, Preparing for Climate Change, is another highly relevant source
of information.
2.2.2 IDENTIFYING AND
ORGANISING THE CORE
TEAM
Once a commitment has been made
to develop local plans to tackle climate
change, the next step is to brief city
authorities (including Mayors and other
decision-makers) about the process. This
will make sure that local leaders better
understand the relevance of climate change
to the city’s sustainable development,
and that they agree on the need for
participatory strategic planning. In this
respect, Section 1 (on the local impacts of
climate change) can provide the necessary
basic information.
Once political commitment has been secured,
a core strategic planning team – the ‘climate
change team’ – can be established. It will
bring together 6-8 individuals representing
a well-balanced variety of expertise while
securing effective and well-informed
decision-making. After this initial stage,
there will be ample opportunity to involve
a broader group as part of the consultation
process. The ‘climate change team’ would
include representatives of the following
professional/social groups:
senior local government ofﬁcials, to se-
cure legitimacy and political inﬂuence;
local authority technical staff, to con-
tribute knowledge and expertise with
regard to formal planning procedures;
representatives of civil society organisa-
tions that are familiar with local (espe-
cially low-income) community life and
dynamics, including speciﬁc gender and
youth issues;
28 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
representatives from the Chamber of
Commerce or other private sector um-
brella organisation, who can advise on
how best to mobilise the formal business
sector;
scholars and academics specialising in
climate change, disaster risk reduction
or social vulnerability.
The ‘climate change team’ will act as the
central coordinating body for strategic
planning. Members will be committed
individuals who can dedicate time to the
process, can make speciﬁc contributions
and with the capacity to generate broader
momentum behind the process. Above all,
members of the ‘climate change team’
should demonstrate their commitment to
the strategic planning process. The team
should also be familiar with political,
cultural and gender conditions, while at
the same time maintaining an open mind
and a keen eye for any opportunities,
needs and gaps.
Case Study 1: Setting Up a Core Climate Change Team in Maputo
Te representative institutions that are part of the core team are the following:
· Maputo Municipal Council - MMC
· MICOA - Ministry for the Coordination of Environmental Anairs
· Department of Physics of the Faculty of Sciences, Eduardo Mondlane University -
UEM
· National Meteorological Institute - INAM
· National Disaster Management Institute - INGC
· INAHINA - National Institute of Hydrography and Navigation
· a representative of the private sector
· a representative of the urban community
· a representative of the voluntary sector (Non-governmental organisations).
(For more information on this case study, see Section 3.3)
Te nrst step to enective planning for climate change
is none other than building awareness and gathering
knowledge with regard both to adaptation and mitigation.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 29
INGC
INAM
INE
NGOs
DNDA
MICOA
Private
Sector
Other
Developing
Partners
T
e
c
h
n
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2
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8
)
Gathering and analysing information
Stakeholder consultations (Section 2.2)
2.4 CLIMATE CHANGE: LOCAL IMPACTS AND EXPOSURE
2.4.1 INTRODUCTION
Developing local plans for adaptation/
mitigation starts with gathering baseline
information about the contribution a local
area makes to climate change, and about
the ways in which the phenomenon is to
affect that area. This information can then be
disseminated to raise awareness, to mobilise
and involve stakeholders as well as to develop
strategic plans and speciﬁc projects.
The type of information needed to make
informed decisions about responding to
climate change must focus on six topics:
temperature changes; future variations
in rainfall (precipitation); the likelihood of
ﬂoods and droughts; the effects of sea-
level rise (for coastal cities); likely changes in
the frequency or intensity of extreme events;
and the implications of climate change for
human health. This section of the toolkit
identiﬁes the main questions to be asked
about these topics in order to understand
exposure to, and impacts of, climate change.
The following section (Section 2.5) shows
how to assess the vulnerability of particular
places, people and sectors.
Not all residents of an urban
area are equally vulnerable
to climate change, and
vulnerability is anected by a
variety of factors, such as age,
gender, and ethnic, national
or geographical origin.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 41
This section on understanding the local climate change impacts provides
guidance on the following steps:
The way in which climate predictions are made by scientists, together with the
strengths and weaknesses of this process;
Asking the right questions of experts and identifying appropriate sources of in-
formation;
Understanding the effects these changes will have at the local scale.
All these issues must be handled with speciﬁc knowledge and expertise. This is why
urban authorities must secure strong links with various institutional stakeholders who
can lead this information stage, gathering and interpreting the data. Understanding
the local climate change impacts is just the ﬁrst step in the process, after which
stakeholders must turn to exploring how speciﬁc impacts (or just exposure to climate
change) give rise to distinct patterns of vulnerability as inﬂuenced by geographical
and social variables.
2.4.2 PREDICTING CHANGES IN
THE CLIMATE
Climate models and climate scenarios
are part of a suite of tools that can be
used to determine likely changes in
climate patterns for a given region. While
weather refers to current atmospheric
conditions in a particular location (for
example, the temperature and whether it
is raining), climate is a broader-ranging,
longer-term phenomenon, including all
weather events occurring over a period of
years in a given place. Climate models are
computer programmes that predict the
climate system’s future behaviour based
on the fundamental laws of physics. They
are the best available representation of
our planet’s atmosphere but remain a
simpliﬁed version of climatic processes.
It is important to remember that while
modelling can be an effective tool when
assessing the future impacts of climate
change, it can only offer simpliﬁed
versions of reality and cannot remove all
uncertainty from the planning process. It
is also worth stressing that an absence
of detailed models does not stand in the
way of anyone in charge of local planning
for climate change, particularly where the
objective is to build resilience to a number
of shocks and stresses.
Climate models require two main sets of
inputs: the drivers of climate change and an
assessment of the ways that these affect the
climate. Neither of these can be accurately
known: future political and socio-economic
decisions will affect the quantity of
greenhouse gases emitted, while the way in
which these emissions affect overall climate
over a number of decades cannot be known
with certainty. Additional uncertainly results
when predictions about global temperature
and rainfall patterns are ‘downscaled’ to
local or regional scales – meaning that
accurate predictions at the level of the town
or city cannot be conﬁdently made.
42 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
Case Study 5: Gathering Information in Esmeraldas, Ecuador
As part of the Cities and Climate Change Initiative, the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador
has undertaken an analysis of future climate change scenarios. In the process, the
municipality has drawn on past records from weather stations in Ecuador as well as the
outcomes of fve climate models and nine emissions scenarios. Records show rises in
temperatures over the past 50 years, while the various models predict that surface air
temperature is to rise by 2.2 to 4.4°C by 2100. However, precipitation is expected to
increase or fall, depending on individual models. Combined with past observations,
these fndings suggest a scenario where more intense rainfall is associated with longer
dry spells.
Te uncertainties around these predictions should not be used as an excuse for inaction.
In the frst instance, there is clearly a need for further research to narrow down these
uncertainties. Second, many adaptation schemes will generate a range of additional
benefts, including more secure livelihoods and better urban services. Finally, this
uncertainty emphasises the importance of a resilience-based approach to adaptation,
with a broader, integrated scope in the face of climate change, rather than trying to
anticipate specifc hazards.
(For more information on this case study, see Section 3.1)
2.4.3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Generating fresh information about the
precise climate risks faced by a particular
location is outside the scope of this toolkit,
and beyond the technical capacities of most
municipal authorities. Rather than conducting
fresh research, it is more important to be
aware of the relevant sources of information
and the right types of questions to ask. It
is also important to consider the extent of
detail required: decisions about substantial
spending on infrastructure or land-use
planning may require particularly detailed
information. Just as questions about
environmental impact are routinely asked
during the development phase (through
the implementation of Environmental
Impact Assessments), climate vulnerability
assessments should be applied to the various
areas of concern, and particularly for major
projects.
The major sources of information include
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), scientiﬁc publications, and
the World Wide Web. Respective beneﬁts
and drawbacks are summarised in Table 7.
THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL
ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC)
The IPCC is the scientiﬁc body in charge of
assessing the causes and consequences of
climate change caused by human activities.
The Panel produces periodic Assessment
Reports (complete with technical summaries
for policy-makers) detailing the state of
knowledge on major issues. The Fourth
Assessment Report (2007) was coordinated
by three ‘working groups’, each of which
produced a substantial sub report: ‘The
Physical Science Basis’ (Working Group I),
‘Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 43
(Working Group II), and ‘Mitigation of
Climate Change’ (Working Group III).
The report of Working Group II reviewed
effects, adaptation and vulnerability in all
ﬁve continents and beyond (Africa, Asia,
Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Latin
America, North America, the Polar Regions
(Arctic and Antarctic), and Small Islands).
The IPCC also produces occasional special
reports and technical papers on particular
issues or sectors. All of these are freely
available on the IPCC website, www.ipcc.
ch. The next assessment report will be
published in 2014, but ‘special reports’
addressing speciﬁc issues may be published
in the meantime.
Case Study 6: Climate Predictions Under the IPCC*
Te Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment report
used a variety of simulations to outline potential future climate scenarios. Tese were
based on assessments of likely trends in greenhouse gas emissions and the enect on
climate systems around the world (particularly in relation to changes in temperature
and precipitation). Tese scenarios took in economic growth, population, changes in
economic structures, and relative level of emphasis on sustainability.
Te fgure below shows the anticipated changes in mean global temperatures under
the B1, A1B, and A2 scenarios. Te B1 scenario features rapid changes in economic
structures toward a service and information economy with the introduction of ‘clean’
and resource-emcient technology. Scenario A1B is based on very rapid economic
growth and a balance between fossil and non-fossil fuels as the main source of energy.
As for scenario A2, it assumes that the world population remains on the increase, with
regionally oriented economic growth.
1900
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
-1.0
2000
Year
G
l
o
b
a
l

2
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8
)
Gathering and analysing information
Stakeholder consultations (Section 2.2)
2.6 PARTICIPATORY STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
2.6.1 INTRODUCTION
The ﬁrst stage when responding to the
challenges posed by climate change is the
development of a vision for the future,
i.e., a clear statement of what the desired
outcome is to be. This section outlines
some of the main components of strategic
planning that can serve as the basis for the
development of speciﬁc projects and tasks.
As discussed earlier in this document, the
starting point for strategic planning will
differ across locations and countries. The
process presented here is intended to be
sufﬁciently ﬂexible to be inserted into local
and national strategies and accommodate
any such differences.
Many aspects of strategic
planning for climate change
share signifcant common
elements with good practice
in more general planning
for sustainability.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 65
This section on strategic planning for climate change provides guidance on the
following ﬁve steps:
The process of strategic planning;
Strategic planning for climate change adaptation and mitigation;
Supporting adaptation efforts by households, community organisations,
Non Governmental Organisations and the private sector;
Mainstreaming climate change into existing urban plans;
Developing stand-alone climate change plans.
Strategic planning is the process of
deﬁning a particular direction in which an
organisation or institution wishes to go,
which serves as the basis for decisions on
more speciﬁc interventions. Traditionally,
strategic planning involves an analysis of
the current situation, deﬁning goals and
objectives, and identifying the best possible
pathway to achieving them. Many aspects
of strategic planning for climate change
share signiﬁcant common elements with
good practice in more general planning
for sustainability. However, responding to
climate change requires an additional stage:
assessing future conditions that may be
very different from those prevailing today.
This section describes the broad process of
strategic planning and how it can be made
relevant to climate change adaptation and
mitigation. Next comes a review of how
urban authorities can support efforts by
other stakeholders (including households,
community organisations, NGOs and
the private sector) to respond to climate
change. The ﬁnal sections weigh up the
respective merits of mainstreaming climate
change into existing urban plans, or of
producing other types of stand-alone plans
(including local climate change action plans,
local comprehensive climate change plans,
sector-based climate plans, community-
based climate plans, and the use of major
interventions as entry points) that can meet
speciﬁc climate change objectives.
2.6.2 THE PROCESS OF STRATEGIC
PLANNING
Development of a strategic plan for climate
change adaptation or mitigation involves
the same general principles as for any other
strategic plan. One typical pathway involves
the following stages:
Prevailing conditions: assess the cur-
rent situation and how it came about;
Target: deﬁne the intended outcomes
of the plan;
Path: map out a route to achieve these
outcomes.
An alternative approach is known as ‘draw-
see-think’. Participants are encouraged to
take a thorough look at various issues based
on four more speciﬁc questions:
66 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
Draw: what is the desired outcome?
See: what is the current situation (and,
in the case of climate change, the likely
future situation)?
Think: what actions are required to move
from the current to the desired situation?
Plan: what actions and resources are re-
quired to achieve this?
Planning can often be enhanced through a
SWOT analysis, taking in both internal and
external factors, as follows:
Strengths: the internal attributes that
will contribute to the desired outcomes;
Weaknesses: the internal attributes
that work against the desired outcomes;
Opportunities: the external attributes
that will contribute to the desired out-
comes;
Threats: the external attributes that
work against the desired outcomes.
It is important to identify these strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats as
they will become part of subsequent plans
and projects. It is just as important to consider
how strengths and opportunities can be
used to their fullest and how weaknesses
and threats can be smoothed out.
The strategic planning process should
involve the stakeholders identiﬁed in Section
2.2. It should build on the assessments of
local contributions to climate change, local
climate change impacts, and vulnerability to
climate change in order to address the main
issues that have been identiﬁed. This can
be supplemented by a series of questions
about methods, actions, and interventions.
Based on the outcomes of city consultations,
working groups and the group in charge
of adaptation policies could reﬂect on the
following questions:
Of all the community’s development
priorities, what are the main ones for
adaptation and mitigation in the short
and the longer terms?
How will these priorities contribute to a
resilient community?
What planning and design challenges
are associated with these priorities?
What challenges will climate change
present in relation to attaining these
goals?
Devising Strategies: The SCP Process
*
UN-Habitat’s Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) provides clear guidelines for the
development of strategies for urban sustainability. Even though these are presented
in a particular order, it is recognised that the complex nature of environmental
issues – including climate change – requires an iterative process with back and forth
movements, feedback and adjustments.
* Source: UN-Habitat SCP Source Book v4
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 67
The SCP strategic process went through four steps:
1. Deﬁning Goals and Objectives
Goals set out the desired future state. They can be broad and general – for example,
‘achieving sustainability’ – but fall short of providing strategic guidance. ‘Good’
objectives are realistic enough to be understood readily, but ambitious enough to
be challenging and to bring signiﬁcant improvements with them.
2. Assessing and Negotiating Strategies
This refers to the direct involvement of stakeholders in strategy development.
Instead of the technical approach of conventional strategic planning, it takes a
broader selection of participants to envisage sustainability (and climate change),
and this represents a methodological shift. Assessing strategies can call on a
variety of techniques, including SWOT and Force Field analyses.
3. Considering Resources and Options for Implementation
Strategy development calls for consideration of a variety of issues, the three most
important being as follows: the efﬁcacy of implementation instruments (can new
regulations be enforced?); availability of resources (one should never opt for a
strategy before wondering whether the resources to back it up are available);
and absorption capacity (implementation capacity may not be sufﬁcient even if
resources are available).
4. Agreeing on Strategies and Mobilising Support
Effective strategies require ﬁrm and lasting commitments at the policy decision-
making level. Strategies are best devised through a participatory process, frequently
involving working groups (see Section 2.3.3). However, strategies should still
be discussed further in mini-consultations or review workshops, with four main
beneﬁts: eliciting reactions and inputs from additional sources; clarifying strategies
and how they relate to other plans, securing wider support, and publicising
strategies more directly.
2.6.3 STRATEGIC PLANNING
FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION AND
MITIGATION
Strategic plans for adaptation
Strategic plans can play a signiﬁcant role
in adaptation to climate change in urban
areas. This requires developing, organising
and reﬁning actions and strategies to build
resilience. The preceding sections have
shown how to identify the speciﬁc challenges
that a given location is facing. This section
highlights a number of major questions that
can shape appropriate responses. These
questions can be broadly grouped into three
main categories: identifying adaptation
actions, implementing adaptation
interventions, and support and resources
(Table 15).
68 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
Table 15: Critical Questions to Shape Adaptation Strategies
Identifying adaptation actions.
These speciﬁc actions can be taken
to reduce climate change-induced
risks
º w||c| au¦|c|pa¦ed |rpac¦s w||| |equ||e adap¦a¦|ou1
º w|a¦ cau cou¦||bu¦e ¦o adap¦a¦|ou |u ¦|e o.e|a|| de.e|opreu¦
context?
º w|a¦ a|e ¦|e soc|a|, eu.||oureu¦a| aud ecouor|c beue¦¦s o¦
adaptation plans?
Implementing adaptation
schemes. These longer-term
actions ﬁt into the broader urban
development framework
º w|a¦ a|e ¦|e p|e¦e||ed op¦|ous corb|u|uç de.e|opreu¦ p||o||¦|es
and adaptation needs?
º Can ‘win-win’ or ‘high-value’ interventions be identiﬁed?
º w|a¦ |s ueeded |u ¦|e s|o|¦·, red|ur· aud |ouç ¦e|r ¦o
implement these act interventions?
º w|a¦ capac|¦|es aud |esou|ces a|e |equ||ed ¦o| e¦¦ec¦|.e
implementation?
º w|o w||| be |u c|a|çe o¦ o.e|see|uç ¦|e o.e|a|| p|ocess1
º How will progress be measured and evaluated?
º How will lessons learned be incorporated into future planning?
Support and resources.
!|ese a|e ¦|e p|e·|equ|s|¦es ¦o|
implementing adaptation actions
and interventions.
º How will implementation be funded?
º w|o |s |u c|a|çe o¦ |rp|ereu¦a¦|ou a¦ ¦|e ço.e|ureu¦
department level?
º Is project implementation supported at all levels?
º /|e adequa¦e capac|¦|es aud |esou|ces a.a||ab|e1
º Are education, outreach and communications strategies
|equ||ed1
º 0oes |rp|ereu¦a¦|ou |equ||e suppo|¦ o| |u.o|.ereu¦ ¦|or o¦|e|
agencies?
Case Study 9: When Local Authorities Take the Lead: Lami, Fiji
In Fiji, the municipality of Lami has devised plans for climate change risk and disaster
preparedness through a fully consultative approach. A coastal town on Viti Levu Island,
Lami is particularly exposed to cyclones, fooding, coastal and river bank erosion and
landslides.
In consultation with the Ministry of Local Government, Urban Development,
Housing and Environment (MLGUDHE) and the Disaster Management Committee,
the municipal council has identifed synergies with the national framework for risk
management. Tis exercise also clarifed the roles and responsibilities of national and
local governments and improved their relationship, as well as the emergency response.
At the same time, the council worked on preparedness: mapping risk-prone areas,
raising awareness on vulnerability and developing community plans. In the process,
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 69
the council also became more familiar with the various aspects of climate change
vulnerability as experienced by the population, and enhanced the communities’
understanding of the role (and capacity) of the council in the face of climate-induced
disasters. Te enective partnership between the Lami council and the community has
also been showcased for the beneft of the national government, showing that local
authorities can do more than act just as information centres, indeed taking an active
role in risk management and resilience-building.
Strategic plans for mitigation
Local planning can make a signiﬁcant
contribution to reducing global greenhouse
gas emissions. In this respect, four main
channels are available to local authorities,
as follows:
Curbing any direct emissions from
their own functions/operations:
Local authorities own or lease build-
ings, use energy for lighting, cooling
or heating, use water, operate fossil
fuel-powered vehicles, and generate
waste. Decisions made in all of these
areas can directly reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Well-devised regulations, taxation
and incentives (where applicable)
can discourage activities that release
greenhouse gases and encourage
those that reduce such emissions by
households and industry within the
municipal boundary. This can include
setting limits on some actions, impos-
ing direct taxes on higher emitting ac-
tivities, providing tax breaks for ‘green
industries’, or developing standards for
‘green’ buildings.
Land-use planning. Where local au-
thorities are in charge of land-use plan-
ning, ‘smart’ urban design that encour-
ages relatively high densities and the
use of public transportation can reduce
the need for private transportation. This
must come hand in hand with the pro-
vision of green spaces that can absorb
carbon dioxide.
Through the provision of an enabling
framework to encourage individuals
and companies to reduce emissions.
Where local authorities take the lead in
greenhouse gas reduction, individuals
and companies are likely to follow.
These actions can affect a number of
sectors, such as the following:
Energy. What incentives can be pro-
vided to reduce energy consumption by
local government, households and in-
dustries, and to promote the use of re-
newable energy?
Transportation. How can price mecha-
nisms, taxation, urban planning, and the
development of infrastructure result in
more climate-friendly transportation sys-
tems?
Waste Management. How can the
amount of waste generated be reduced?
How can waste disposal sites be man-
aged – for example through landﬁll gas
capture – to reduce carbon emissions?
70 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
2.6.4 STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT IN CLIMATE
CHANGE PLANNING
In many urban centres in low- and middle-
income countries, local authorities wield less
inﬂuence through what they can afford to
build or invest in than through what they
can encourage, in terms of behaviour,
action or capital spending, among
households, community organisations,
civil society and business. This means that
with regard to climate change adaptation,
local government must, ﬁrst of all, be
sure to disseminate appropriate and
easy-to-understand information among
all stakeholders. On top of that, existing
planning and regulatory powers can impose
effective land-use planning whereby (1) new
developments are kept away from high-risk
areas (which also means ensuring low-
income groups can ﬁnd land-for-housing
that they can afford and on non-dangerous
sites) and (2) buildings and infrastructure are
adapted to climate-change risks (focusing
on affordable options).
Any urban authority opting to support
bottom-up approaches should have the
capacity to support large numbers of risk-
reduction initiatives that emanate from local
communities and are managed by them.
Many such initiatives may not be costly and
may see local authority funds mobilising
household/community contributions. This
supporting capacity is typical of many
cities that have instituted participatory
budgeting, i.e., where residents collectively
determine which improvements for their
neighbourhood they want to be included
in the municipal budget. For instance,
a settlement at risk from landslides
can have municipal funds allocated to
slope stabilisation. Of course, this works
particularly well where local authorities have
the capacity to provide citywide supporting
infrastructure or services – for instance,
the trunk drains into which community-
managed local drains feed.
2.6.5 MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE
CHANGE INTO EXISTING
PLANS
Apart from stand-alone plans, mainstreaming
is the other major option for local planning for
climate change. An integrated approach to
climate change risk may require changes to a
wide range of existing urban plans (including
land-use or development plans and sector
strategies). This is a good way of making
sure that all aspects of urban functions are
protected from the worst impacts of climate
change. This approach requires considerable
knowledge and commitment from a wide
range of municipal/urban functions.
Cities concentrate people and production,
together with all the inputs/goods they use
and the wastes they generate. In the process
cities also concentrate a variety of hazards.
Any well-conceived urban development plan
or strategy is inevitably seeking to reduce three
types of environmental hazard: biological
pathogens (disease-causing agents), chemical
pollutants and physical hazards. Indeed,
most forms of infrastructure (e.g., provision
of water, sanitation and drainage) and most
regulations on the workplace, buildings and
planning ﬁnd their roots in the reduction of
environmental risk, even if the form they take
or the way they are implemented no longer
serve this purpose. Many regulations, services
or forms of infrastructure are not designed to
be speciﬁc to particular hazards, but rather
to provide general protection. For instance,
sewers and drains reduce the risks of water-
related diseases and of ﬂooding. Health care
systems are intended as responses to all
illnesses and injuries, regardless of whether
these arise from pathogens, pollutants or
physical hazards. Insurance – for property,
possessions, workplace equipment, or
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 71
life – is also intended for a ‘multi-hazard’
environment. Building regulations similarly
reduce risks to a variety of environmental
hazards. Infrastructure standards, building
regulations, land-use controls and the way
services are organised should all also include
defences against the effects of extreme
weather events and their prospective higher
intensity or frequency.
If climate change is to be mainstreamed
into existing or amended urban plans, the
following three priorities should be addressed:
Prevent: What can be done to prevent
climate impacts in the particular sector
at hand?
Prepare: For impacts that cannot be pre-
vented, how best to anticipate and make
sure that any damage is not extensive?
Respond: How can local authorities, civ-
il society and business address the con-
sequences of a climate event?
Examples of Plans that Require Climate Change Mainstreaming
Local authorities are in charge of a variety of plans, many of which require amendments
if they are to take in the challenges of climate change. Among these plans are the
following:
Medium/long-term urban/municipal development and strategic plans, including
master plans;
Strategic land-use plans;
Development orders;
Strategies and plans for water management;
Strategies and plans for waste management;
Strategies and plans for energy supplies;
Management plans for coastal zones.
72 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
2.6.6 DEVELOPING STRATEGIC,
STAND-ALONE CLIMATE
CHANGE PLANS
Apart from mainstreaming into existing
frameworks, local planning for climate
change can use a number of other
approaches. These are summarised in
the table below (Table 16). They are all
based on a combination of stakeholder
engagement, an analysis of the effects
of climate change, and an assessment of
vulnerability. Differences lie in the ways
in which responses are developed, and
those who take the main responsibility for
implementation.
Table 16: Local Planning for Climate Change: Six Approaches
Approach
(not mutually
exclusive)
Appropriate
Situation
(when to use this
approach)
Major needs
(legislative,
technical,
ﬁnancial, etc.)
Potential
strengths
Potential
weaknesses
Examples
Mainstreaming
into Existing
Plans
Existing and
regularly updated
urban plans
(land- use plans,
development orders,
sector strategies).
Existing plans
are funded and
implemented.
National legislation
mandates
integration of
climate change
issues into existing
plans.
Political support
for process.
Legal and
institutional
scope for
mainstreaming.
Legal
|equ||ereu¦s.
Strongest
potential
for resulting
in systemic
changes
that take
in climate
change.
Risk of
overlooking
the needs
of the more
vulnerable
groups
Local Climate
(Action) Plan
Cau suppo|¦ / d||.e
mainstreaming into
existing planning
framework.
Can attract funding
and support.
Can address gaps in
existing plans.
Political support
for process.
Easy starting
po|u¦ /
achievable
without
external
support.
f|e·|b|e.
Initially not
comprehensive.
Implementation
may include
mainstreaming,
making it a
more complex
process.
Short or
medium term.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 73
Local
Comprehensive
Climate
Change Plans
(stand-alone
plan)
Political support for
this approach.
Statutory plans
are non- existent,
out-dated, poorly
|rp|ereu¦ed aud/o|
not funded.
Leça| |equ||ereu¦
for explicit climate
change plan.
Political support
for process.
f|uauc|a| aud
technical
support to
develop plan.
May facilitate
coordination
between
stakeholders.
Potentially
more effective
to attract
funding.
Effective
achievement
of systemic
change.
Sector-Based
Climate Plans
Lack of political
commitment for
city-wide planning.
Driven by national
ministry or relevant
authority.
Relatively
strong utilities
(e.g., electricity,
water).
focused aud
speciﬁc.
luadequa¦e
focus on social
dimensions of
vulnerability.
Local
government
may not have
any authority
over certain
sectors.
Local
government
provides
incentives
for privately
owned
utility to
develop
climate
plan.
Community-
Based Climate
Plans
Lack of political
commitment for
citywide planning.
Strong localised
risks.
Strong civil
society
organisations.
Likely to
address needs
of the more
vulnerable
groups.
Limited
capacity
to address
infrastructural
needs.
Major
Interventions
as Entry Points
Major urban
interventions are
on-going.
Support
¦|or douo|/
implementing
agencies.
focused aud
speciﬁc.
Does not
address
broader issues
of vulnerability.
Slum
upgrading,
water and
sanitation,
drainage
systems
Often known as ‘Municipal Climate Plans’,
stand-alone climate change plans can,
in fact, be fairly comprehensive, and can
exist alongside a mainstreaming process.
They can also come in handy where urban
governance is split between several distinct
authorities. A comprehensive climate
change plan can incorporate a number
of different strategies. For example, in
Chicago, USA, the local Climate Action
Plan includes a diversity of components
such as energy-efﬁcient buildings; clean
and renewable energy sources; improved
transportation options; reduced waste and
industrial pollution; and adaptation
29
.
29 Chicago Climate Action Plan: www.chicagoclimateaction.org
74 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
In other circumstances, it may be more
appropriate for communities or sectors
to develop their own climate plans.
Communities are familiar with current
local risks and how to tackle them. Where
community-based and non-government
organisations are well-established and
capable, they can develop local responses
to climate change together with municipal
authorities. Similarly, professionals operating
in major urban sectors – including water,
sanitation and electricity generation – are
often best placed to identify what they can
do to respond to climate change.
Case Study 10: Developing a Municipal Adaptation Plan in Cape Town
*
Cities in South Africa have started planning for climate change. In Cape Town,
South Africa, the process for developing a Municipal Adaptation Plan recognizes
that this cannot simply be a linear process, but requires a variety of simultaneous and
interlocking activities (see below). At every stage, these steps are complemented by two
crosscutting processes: stakeholder engagement and adaptive capacity assessment.
Assessment of vulnerability
to socioeconomic stresses
Local economic development
s¦|a¦eç|es, |u¦eç|a¦ed
de.e|opreu¦ p|aus, |u¦eç|a¦ed
municipal environment plans
Assessment of vulnerability
to climate change impacts
Na¦|oua| c||ra¦e c|auçe s¦|a¦eç,,
local climate change assessments
Overlay to identify
vulnerable areas
Develop adaptation
options and actions
Prioritze actions
MAP
(Municipal Adaptation Plan)
* Source: Mukheibir P, Ziervogel G (2007) ‘Developing a Municipal Action Plan (MAP) for Climate Change: the city of Cape Town’
Environment and Urbanization 19(1): 143-158.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 75
Case Study 11: Strategic Planning in Durban, South Africa
Borrowed from Debra Roberts (2010), ‘Prioritising climate change adaptation and local
level resilience’, Environment and Urbanisation Vol. 22 No. 2 October 2010.
Te eTekwini Municipality is the local government in charge of managing and
planning the city of Durban. Since 2004 the Municipality has been working on
the implementation of a Municipal Climate Protection Programme (MCPP). Tis
programme is largely climate change adaptation based - quite unique for a municipal
climate change plan at the time when mitigation often featured more prominently -
looking at impacts of climate change to the city and developing suitable local responses.
Te reason for this approach was that the municipality felt that by following adaptation
strategies there would be a complimentary balance to on-going development and
poverty alleviation work, especially to show gains in post-apartheid development.
Te road map to institutionalizing adaptation within eTekwini Municipality has not
been smooth but one in which lessons learnt have constantly being refected upon and
internalized to produce more appropriate strategies. In 2006 the Headline Climate
Change Adaptation Strategy (HCCAS) was developed from the adaptation work stream
of the MCPP and the initial assessment on climate change impacts for the city. Te
HCCAS focused on the key municipal sectors that would be most anected by climate
change and highlighted adaptation options that these sectors could follow. However,
the institutional ability of these sectors varied considerably: some sectors such as the
water sector were already implementing adaptation measures, albeit under a dinerent
heading, and others due to their lack of awareness, capacity or institutional mandate
were prohibited from taking action. One such sector was the Disaster Management
Unit whose mandate was primarily a reactive one to disasters and not a proactive one
to preventing these disasters from happening in the frst place. Tis fnding, relating
to the Disaster Management Unit, was one of the major nndings of the HCCAS that
identifed the need for the Unit to work with other sectors to develop an early warning
system, ensure resilience is in-built into infrastructure and improve urban planning to
reduce the vulnerability of new developments.
Te HCCAS laid a good foundation for the need for engaging dinerent municipal
sectors and the importance of a central and functional disaster management system.
However it did not stimulate any new adaptation action and the main reasons
attributed to this were identifed as:
· Te high level and generic nature of the strategy;
· Excessive existing workloads;
· Urgent development challenges/pressures that resulted in issues perceived as less
urgent being ignored;
· Te perception of climate change as a distant and unlikely threat; and
· A shortage of skills and funds.
To correct this, the municipality decided to pilot adaptation planning into two sectors
only, the health and water sector. Te planning process involved developing more sector
76 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
specifc adaptation plans but which were aligned to existing sectoral business plans,
development objectives and which could be executed within the available budget and
human resources. During the development process of these plans it became evident that
in adapting to climate change both these sectors would also have to have an element of
emergency response and disaster risk reduction but on a strategic planning level. It was
therefore decided that in parallel a third municipal adaptation plan would be prepared
for the disaster management sector. Tis third adaptation plan would in the end form
the umbrella under which a large part of eTekwini municipality’s adaptation measures
would be implemented. Te plan consists of:
· Implementation of the disaster risk management framework (approved in 2009);
· Comprehensive citywide risk assessment;
· Securing additional human resources for the Disaster Management Unit;
· Revision of the contingency plans for key risk areas;
· Hosting a disaster risk management summit.
To date the following projects have been included under this plan:
· Climate Smart Communities pilot projects, involving community-based adaptation
planning; food security and implementation of micro scale agricultural water
management technologies;
· Use of community theatre in community adaption planning as a means to
communicating the threats to climate change;
· Community reforestation project;
· Green roof pilot project;
· Sea-level rise modelling;
· 2010 FIFA world Cup, Durban was the only city which committed to being climate
neutral for the event by planting trees but also produce a Green Guideline Series on
issues such as water and energy efciency;
· Te Durban Climate Change Partnership.
Te planning process in eTekwini Municipality shows the lengthy process involved in
institutionalizing adaptation measures in municipalities by following a sectoral approach
and then scaling it down to a few sectors. It also shows the dominance of a Disaster
Management Unit not merely as a responsive unit but a proactive unit. Te institutional
structure has a large bearing on the successful integration of adaptation related work
into a municipality’s daily functions. Lastly local governments cannot be engaged in
adaptation on their own and there is a strong consensus that key stakeholders and other
institutions need to be on-board.
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 77
2.7 IMPLEMENTING ACTION PLANS
Putting plans into practice: implementing action plans (Section 2.7)
Participatory strategic planning for climate change (Section 2.6)
Identifying local
contributions to
climate change
(Section 2.3)
Local climate
change impacts
and exposure
(Section 2.4)
Assessing
vulnerable people,
places and sectors
(Section 2.5)
P
a
r
t
i
c
i
p
a
t
o
r
y

Similarly, a variety of ecosystem services can
enhance climate adaptation. In particular, more
general environmental improvements such
as the rehabilitation of wetlands and rivers,
preserving woodlands, and planting trees can
reduce ﬂood risk, offset the urban ‘heat island’
effect, and reduce energy demands.
Perhaps most importantly, adaptation in
urban settlements has many overlaps with
improved infrastructural provision for low-
income households and communities. Many
low-income urban settlements are poorly
served by water, sanitation and drainage
provision, all of which can contribute to poor
resilience to the shocks and stresses that will
be exacerbated as a result of climate change.
Climate change will bring more frequent
and extreme rainfall, and proper drainage
can alleviate this issue. There is also growing
evidence that rising temperatures will lead
to the increased spread of water-borne and
water-washed diseases – and proper water
and sanitation will help to prevent this.
These are prime examples of convergence,
where meeting broader development goals
31 Bloomberg M, Aggarwala R (2008). ‘Think Locally, Act
Globally: how curbing global warming emissions can
improve local public health’ American Journal of Preventative
Medicine 35(5): 414-423: p414.
86 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
and meeting climate change adaptation
needs come together. More generally,
areas of convergence/overlap include the
following:
º Provision of quality infrastructure for
all areas (which should reduce risks of
ﬂooding for the whole city area, not
just the wealthier neighbourhoods) and
land-use management (to restrict settle-
ments in high-risk areas, or make them
more resilient);
º Quality disaster-preparedness (includ-
ing warnings, damage-control and, if
needed, assistance to people in need of
urgent relocation);
º Quality planning and coordination for
disaster response (for instance, rescue
and appropriate emergency and health
care services) and reconstruction (to help
those who have lost their homes and
livelihoods) which should aim to improve
resilience, but seldom achieves this;
º The extent to which the poor can buy,
build or rent “safe” housing in “safe” sites;
º The extent to which local government
create an enabling environment for local
civil-society action to contribute towards
the practical aims listed above.
2.7.7 FINANCING CLIMATE
CHANGE PROJECTS
As explained above, any strategic action
in response to climate change should,
as far as possible, be mainstreamed and
internalised within already existing agencies,
departments and programmes. However, it
will often be necessary to identify and access
sources of funding for particular projects
to prepare for climate change. Many such
sources are similar to those already available
for broader environmental goals. Others are
more explicitly oriented towards climate
change (as detailed in a companion toolkit
on the Clean Development Mechanism and
Voluntary Emissions Reductions by UN-
Habitat, “Making Carbon Markets Work for
your City”).
The ﬁrst stage is to quantify the funds
required and to identify funding sources
to implement particular projects. This task
should be included at several phases in
project planning:
(i) Strategic planning: a rough estimation
of costs and available resources early in
the process;
(ii) Action planning: a more detailed
scrutiny of ﬁnancial and other resource
requirements, with separate estimates
for major tasks and stakeholders;
(iii) Project formulation: detailed cost
estimates and speciﬁc sources of
resources.
Conventional sources of ﬁnance
These sources are detailed in SCP Sourcebook
Volume 4 (Section B6). Five main sources of
funding are available, as follows:
Government (local, regional, national);
The private sector (both formal and in-
formal);
Households and communities;
Local NGOs, voluntary organisations,
charities, etc.;
International organisations.
A variety of strategies can be adopted to
involve these stakeholders and mobilise
resource commitments, as follows:
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 87
Improving the revenue base of munici-
palities and their capacity for capital
spending;
Incorporating action plans and projects
into government capital spending bud-
gets and public works programmes;
Enhancing the role of private sector ﬁ-
nance;
Strengthening the role of communities
in ﬁnancial and resource support;
Involving donors at an early stage;
Linking new and on-going initiatives.
External funding for mitigation
projects
The need to reduce global greenhouse gas
emissions has opened up several dedicated
sources of funding for relevant projects.
The most signiﬁcant of these is the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM), which
the United Nations Framework Convention
for Climate Change (UNFCCC) developed
as part of its mandate to reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions. The mechanism
enables emission reduction (or emission-
removal) projects in developing countries
to earn certiﬁed emission reduction credits
that can be traded and sold to industrialised
countries as part of their emission reduction
targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
More than 1500 CDM projects have been
approved around the world. In urban
areas, many of these address issues such as
electricity generation from landﬁll emissions;
thereby helping to meet both energy security
and greenhouse gas emissions needs. Full
information about the CDM – and all the
projects that have been submitted and
approved to date – can be found on the
UNFCCC website (http://cdm.unfccc.int).
Carbon credits under the CDM are
certiﬁed under international agreements
on greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
There is also a ‘voluntary’ carbon market
based on the generation of voluntary
emission reductions (VERs, e.g., to offset
the carbon imprint of air and other travel)
through which individuals or companies
make ﬁnancial contributions to emissions
reductions elsewhere.
This goes to show that local climate change
plans can be associated with either CDM
or voluntary emission reduction projects.
These schemes can play two major roles in
climate change policies: (1) they contribute
to the global aim of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, and in the process restrict the
extent of climate change; and (2) projects
under either scheme can generate funds
that can contribute towards the costs of
adaptation to climate change.
For a guide to CDM project development,
refer to UN-Habitat’s Publication, ‘Making
carbon markets work for your city’.
External funding for climate change
adaptation
Further substantial developments have also
occurred in recent years with regard to funding
for climate change adaptation. However, so
far they have not been particularly aimed
at the local level
32
, although this is where
adaptation policies and projects are expected
to prove most effective. External funding
for climate change adaptation/mitigation
is available from two distinct sources:
multilateral and bilateral.
Firstly, funding for adaptation has been
developed under the auspices of the
UNFCCC. At their Conference in Marrakech,
32 For a more detailed discussion of these issues, see Ayers J
(2009) ‘International funding to support urban adaptation to
climate change’ Environment and Urbanization 21(1): 225-
240.
88 DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
Morocco in 2001, UNFCC signatory
countries agreed that funding should be
made available for “pilot or demonstration
projects to show how adaptation planning
and assessment can be practically translated
into projects that will provide real beneﬁts”.
Three speciﬁc funds have been created to
address these needs: the Least Developed
Countries Fund, the Special Climate Change
Fund, and the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation
Fund. The Least Developed Countries Fund
supports the design of National Adaptation
Programmes of Action (NAPAs). The Special
Climate Change Fund supports a limited
number of mitigation, technology transfer,
and adaptation projects. The Kyoto Protocol
Adaptation Fund is explicitly designed to
support adaptation projects in low- and
middle-income countries and is funded
directly by a levy on the Clean Development
Mechanism. The Adaptation Fund is
governed by an independent board and
relies on revenues from the CDM levy initially
expected to amount to USD160- 190 million
per year. However, the Fund can only take
applications from national governments,
rather than local authorities or civil society.
Various other proposals have been made for
adaptation ﬁnancing under the UNFCCC,
including a levy on international air travel or
maritime bunker fuels – as yet, these are only
in the discussion phase. At the conference of
the UNFCCC in Durban, countries agreed to
the broad design of a global Green Climate
Fund, however, how this mechanism will be
funded remains unclear.
Donor funding for local climate change
projects: Dedicated multilateral and bilateral
funds for adaptation include the World Bank’s
Pilot Programme on Climate Resilience.
Donor agencies have also added climate
change adaptation to their agendas, and the
international consensus is that it must come
in addition to existing aid commitments,
instead of substituting for them.
Additional information on climate change
funding is provided in two UN-Habitat
policy papers
33
.
2.7.8 OUTCOMES AND SUMMARY
As demonstrated throughout this section,
local planning for climate change results
in workable operational projects for which
funding is available and which address
various aspects of climate change in a
manner appropriate to local conditions.
These projects speak to the priorities
identiﬁed through the process of strategic
planning and speciﬁcally focus on the needs
of the most vulnerable groups in society,
including the very young, the elderly and
women. They may include community-
based adaptation projects, although if this
is the case there should also be adequate
support for larger-scale interventions
that provide the framework within which
communities can operate effectively.
2.7.9 FURTHER INFORMATION
United Nations Development Programme.
Adaptation Policy Frameworks for Climate
Change. http://www.undp.org/climatechange/
adapt/apf.html
USAID. Adapting to Climate Variability and
Change: a guidance manual for development
planning.
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/ environment/
climate/docs/reports/ cc_vamanual.pdf
33 UN-Habitat (2011) Policy Note 1, Adaptation Finance:
Are Cities in Developing Countries, Slipping Through the
Cracks? (http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.
aspx?publicationID=3238) and UN-Habitat (2011) Policy
Note2, Mitigation Finance: Do Cities in Developing Countries
Have Sufﬁcient Access? (http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/
listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=3239)
CHAPTER 2 / DEVELOPING LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS: A PROCESS-BASED TOOLKIT 89
2.8 PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND EVALUATION
2.8.1 WHY MONITOR?
The momentum associated with plan and
project design should not draw attention
away from the signiﬁcant role of monitoring
and evaluation. When put in place from
the very start of the process, a monitoring
strategy can meet several important needs.
Monitoring and evaluation had given rise to
a variety of methods, but this toolkit focuses
on ‘Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation’
(PME), a methodology that can meet a
broad range of objectives. PME draws on a
number of participatory research traditions,
involves a wide variety of stakeholders, and
focuses on local, speciﬁc ways of measuring
the achievements of particular actions on
the ground.
Monitoring and evaluating the outcomes
of climate change planning pursues two
main purposes. One is to ensure that the
planning process itself meets its desired
objectives, and that the plans are coherent
and effective. The second main purpose of
monitoring and evaluation is to ensure that
adaptation actions meet the intended goal
of reduced vulnerability to climate change.
Because adaptation involves tackling
unknown changes over decades or longer
periods of time, it can be very difﬁcult to
assess whether the plans have been carried
out effectively. Section 2.7.4 explores
some of these issues and pinpoints some
mechanisms that can be used to evaluate
whether adaptation interventions have been
successful.
Given the variety of methods available for
project monitoring and evaluation, the
information provided here is intended solely
as a summary outline (more information can
be found in the dedicated guide published
by UN-Habitat as part of the Sustainable
Cities Programme).
Putting plans into practice: implementing action plans (Section 2.7)
Participatory strategic planning for climate change (Section 2.6)
Identifying local
contributions to
climate change
(Section 2.3)
Local climate
change impacts
and exposure
(Section 2.4)
Assessing
vulnerable people,
places and sectors
(Section 2.5)
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